California wildfires toll reaches 65, 631 remain missing

San Francisco: The death toll from the destructive wildfires in California has increased to 65, while 631 people remain unaccounted for, authorities said.

Of the 65 victims, 63 were killed in Northern California’s Camp Fire, deemed as the worst wildfire in the state’s history, while two other people were killed in Southern California’s Woolsey Fire, reports CNN.

Butte County Sheriff and Coroner Kory Honea said on Thursday evening that hundreds of rescue personnel — deputies, National Guard troops and coroners — dressed in white overalls sifted through smouldering rubble and checked mangled cars, searching for human remains.

Camp Fire has turned the hard-hit town of Paradise into ash and debris and also devastated the nearby communities of Magalia and Concow.

Honea has invited relatives of the missing so that authorities could collect DNA samples from them.